McGlasson calls for Illinois GOP Chairman Schneider to 'do the right thing' and resign

Less than a year after an alleged attempt by now former Gov. Bruce Rauner to purge him from the Illinois GOP's central committee, a committeeman earlier this week called upon the party's chairman to resign.

"I am respectfully asking our Chairman Tim Schneider to step aside for the good of the party in the future," 16th Congressional District Representative John McGlasson said in a letter read into the record during the Republican State Central Committee's meeting over the weekend. "Even though we disagree with many things, he is a good and honorable man. His work on behalf of the party merits our respect."

Republican Former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner

But that work apparently has not been good enough for McGlasson, and "his nearly five years of party leadership can only be described as disastrous," the letter stated. "We have no Republican Constitutional Officers, we are in the super-minority in both houses of the General Assembly and the party's finances are in dire straits."

Former State Representative Jeanne Ives reportedly spoke at the meeting and made a request similar to McGlasson's.

McGlasson's call for Schneider to resign comes less than a year after an alleged attempt to purge McGlasson from the state party's central committee. Last April, McGlasson, who supported Ives in her failed primary race against then incumbent Governor Rauner, was re-elected 16th Congressional District State Central Committeeman over the objections of four state lawmakers.

McGlasson's re-election also came amid the attempted purge reportedly led by Rauner to remove Conservatives from the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, the state party's governing body. McGlasson was one of those targeted for removal by Rauner and his allies, as were Robert Winchester Sr. of Rosiclare, then running for the 15th Congressional District seat, and Fred Floreth of Springfield, then running for the 13th Congressional District seat.

Schneider, installed by Rauner as state GOP chairman in May 2014, has been a close ally of Rauner's and a sharp critic of Ives.

McGlasson referred to the purge in his letter.

"I was removed from the State Central Committee's executive committee by Chairman Schneider because I chose to support a challenger over an incumbent," the letter said. "Yet he had no qualms in overseeing challenges to two incumbent members of this committee."

McGlasson said Schneider should announce his resignation in 30 days and that the central committee start accepting applications for his successor.

"Chairman Schneider, please do the right thing for the party," McGlasson said. "We may ultimately find that you were not the problem. But we simply cannot wait over a year to find that out. We must begin NOW."

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